What Shanghai looked like in the 1970s Through Fascinating Vintage Photos

The city of Shanghai is China’s most developed city and the center of the nation’s economy, finance, trade, shipping, and technological innovation. China’s desire to make it an international center of finance and culture has boomed the city in the past few decades. The rapidly growing middle class in China and foreign investors looking to tap the Chinese market find many opportunities in Shanghai.

Shanghai was occupied by the Japanese during the second Sino-Japanese War, and its industrial plants were severely damaged. Before the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the Chinese communists took control of Shanghai in 1949, the city’s economy suffered even greater dislocation as small, inefficient shops arose, rampant inflation unfolded, and no overall plan for industrial reconstruction was implemented.

During the period up to 1960, Shanghai’s development was temporarily slowed due to the country’s focus on internal regional development. Shanghai resumed its position as China’s leading scientific and technological research Centre after 1960, when relations with the U.S. cooled.

Below are some fascinating photos by Michael Rank that will take you back to the 1950s in Shanghai.

#1 Shanghai Orthodox Church, 1970s

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#2 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#3 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#4 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#5 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#6 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#7 TV shop on Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#8 Nanjing Road cinema. International Hotel in the background (formerly and once again known as the Park Hotel), Shanghai, 1970s

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#9 Nanjing Road poster, Shanghai, 1970s

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#10 Nanjing Road trishaw, Shanghai, 1970s

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#11 Bicycle park, Fuzhou Lu, Shanghai, 1970s

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#12 Cinema posters, Shanghai, 1970s

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#13 Commune carrying benches to meeting, Shanghai, 1970s

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#14 Commune dairy cows, Shanghai, 1970s

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#15 Commune mother and child, Shanghai, 1970s

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#16 Commune pigs, Shanghai, 1970s

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#17 Commune youths, Shanghai, 1970s

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#18 Fuzhou Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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#19 Fuzhou/Xizang Lu, Shanghai, 1970s

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#20 Hongfangzi, Shanghai, 1970s

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#21 Huangpu ship, Shanghai, 1970s

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#22 Huangpu ships, Shanghai, 1970s

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#23 International Hotel statue, Shanghai, 1970s

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#24 Photographer at park, Shanghai, 1970s

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#25 Photographer at park, Shanghai, 1970s

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#26 Retired performers, Shanghai, 1970s

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#27 Shanghai anti-Deng, 1970s

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#28 Shanghai at night, 1970s

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#29 Shanghai boatmen ships, 1970s

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#30 Shanghai Bund crowd, 1970s

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#31 Shanghai Bund crowd, 1970s

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#32 Shanghai Bund, 1970s

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#33 Shanghai Club, 1970s

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#34 Shanghai commune women, 1970s

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#35 Shanghai Exhibition Hall, 1970s

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#36 Shanghai former racecourse, 1970s

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#37 Shanghai former racecourse, 1970s

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#38 Shanghai Huangpu, 1970s

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#39 Shanghai International Hotel (formerly and once again known as the Park Hotel), 1970s

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#40 Shanghai International Hotel (formerly and once again known as the Park Hotel), 1970s

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#41 Shanghai International Hotel (formerly and once again known as the Park Hotel), 1970s

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#42 Shanghai park cathedral, 1970s

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#43 Shanghai Revolutionary Committee, 1970s

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#44 Shanghai street from above, 1970s

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#45 Sitting on Bund, Shanghai, 1970s

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#46 Suzhou Creek, Shanghai, 1970s

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#47 Tudor house, Shanghai, 1970s

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#48 Wujiaochang, Shanghai, 1970s

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#49 Wujiaochang, Shanghai, 1970s

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#50 Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 1970s

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